First published 2025
Erin Entrada Kelly tells the forgotten story of Josefina "Joey" Guerrero, a Filipino woman who turned her leprosy diagnosis into a weapon against Japanese occupation forces during World War II. Kelly traces how Guerrero joined the guerrilla resistance movement, believing she would die soon from her disease. Japanese soldiers avoided searching her because of her condition, allowing her to smuggle vital intelligence including a crucial minefield map taped to her back. The biography follows Guerrero through her Medal of Freedom award to her years at the National Leprosarium in Louisiana, her struggles with racial discrimination after release, and her eventual disappearance into anonymity. Kelly combines wartime espionage with themes of immigration, medical history, and perseverance. The book includes photographs, maps, sidebars explaining historical context, source notes, and an index. Readers discover how one woman's courage changed military outcomes while confronting prejudice about both her ethnicity and her disease.
Genres: biography, historical-fiction, 20th-century, world-war-ii, military-history
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: overcoming-prejudice, perseverance
Setting: Japan, Louisiana, National Leprosarium
Period: World War II
208 pages · Kindle Edition · Greenwillow Books
Content warnings: medical-trauma, racism